Tales From the Intersect
by fezzywhigg
Summary: A collection of one shots about minor characters or plots from the tv show Chuck
1. Chapter 1 Grand

Grand

Bryce could hardly believe this was his life. Two years out of college, three after he was recruited, and he was being partnered with one of the CIA's best, getting ready to go undercover. Sacrifices had been made but here he was standing next to a stunning, talented woman who was rumored to be Director Graham's wild card enforcer. The thought crossed his mind that maybe he had been assigned as her partner to balance out this force of nature.

" So...'Anderson'? I guess somebody watched The Matrix a little too much, huh?" She flashed him a bright smile. He had to smile in return at that statement. He knew Sarah had never watched the The Matrix. At least that's what she told him. He had let slip a story about him and his best friend at college seeing the movie at a second run movie theater. He relished the memory so much. It had been good to feel normal again and have a good friend at your side. As he had reminisced, he couldn't contain himself and had related the plot (and some of the dialog) to Sarah.

* * *

Bryce Larkin transferred to Fairfield College Prep in the fall of 1997 as a junior. Having been summarily dismissed from Notre Dame High School for bad behavior, his Dad had finagled a second chance at Fairfield after helping a client who was an alumnus and a big donor to the school. Bryce was bright but unfocused; acting up just kept things interesting.

He could have excelled at athletics but he partied too much. Although Bryce lived with his Dad, they weren't particularly close. Richard Larkin's law practice in Manhattan kept him very busy most of the time. Bryce's Mom had left 5 years ago to "find herself" in San Francisco. Apparently there was an artist in her trying to blossom and a workaholic husband and a behaviorally challenged son was holding that artist back.

Bryce seemed to always rank second or third in his parents' lives. In spite of that, he was ready to turn over a new leaf and started putting in the work. But that didn't mean he was going to quit having a good time.

Somehow Bryce had avoided the high school awkwardness that plagued most teenagers. He was accepted and befriended by most of the cliques including the popular kids. His friend Grand called them the "keepers of the gate" since they decided what (and who) was cool.

Bryce met Grand in chemistry on the first day of school but he didn't get to know him until they started playing each other in chess club. Grand had a quick wit and definitely gave Bryce as good as he got. If Bryce had to describe Grand, he would liken him to a coiled spring full of potential energy.

Grand was extremely intelligent but he didn't have a lot of self confidence. He mostly kept to himself. He was extremely loyal to his family and his few friends. He liked comic books and video games but he didn't let that distract him from working hard at school. His family wasn't wealthy. They did OK but they couldn't afford the tuition to Fairfield, so Grand worked hard to keep his scholarship.

Grand introduced Bryce to Dungeons and Dragons, along with the Star Trek/ Star Wars rivalry. Apparently it was a big deal which one you liked best. Though he had a soft spot for Han Solo, Bryce was a big fan of Next Generation and so was Grand. Grand loved his Playstation and Bryce enjoyed his N-64 and they would jokingly debate the merits of each platform. They found common ground, though, in a game called Zork. They had found it on a cartridge in a box they got when they bought an old Commodore 64 at a yard sale. It was surprisingly fun and they spent more time than they should have playing it.

Bryce, for his part, introduced Grand to partying. Grand would stay with Bryce at his house in Weston with the excuse of studying or just hanging out. They would take Bryce's red BMW 328i convertible from one party to another. Grand didn't have a car but swore he was getting one as soon as he saved up enough money. Depending on the party, they would usually head out about 8 at night and get in by 3 or 4 in the morning

Grand got his nickname when they went to their first party together. It was at Jason Riley's house and it was so cliché. His parents were in New York for dinner and a show. They planned to stay in the city overnight and wouldn't be back until the next afternoon.

Jason had promised there wouldn't be any parties. So of course, he threw one.

By the time they got there the party was in full swing. Loud music and whatever alcohol could be taken from the kids' respective parents or purchased by an older sibling or friend abounded. Grand had been in school with these kids for two years and most of them didn't know his name or recognize him. Bryce (whose name everyone seemed to know) took on the task of introducing Grand to his own classmates. When Bryce made introductions to a particularly inebriated girl, her slurred repeating of his name sounded like "grand" and from that point he was Grand.

As much as Bryce embraced his inner nerd, Grand excelled at partying. He was good at it and he enjoyed it. He knew where the parties were and who would be there. He started smoking and drinking but he found that he enjoyed weed most of all. It "took the edge off" he would say.

Dealing started as a small way of subsidizing Grand's own use. But since he was Grand he was good at it. He was was making the kind of money he could only dream of and he transformed from a nobody to someone people wanted to know. By the fall of senior year he had a schedule and a spreadsheet to keep up with his "hobby". The lies to his family grew and grew. His Mom would ask him if anything was wrong as he began to withdraw from his family. "No" he would answer "everything's great." and he meant it. His friendship with Bryce suffered and diminished as he had less time for chess, video games and just hanging out. Grand had new friends. They told him how great he was and oh by the way "can you hook me up?". Bryce never said anything even as he saw Grand fall deeper and deeper into this secret life. Bryce knew Grand needed help but couldn't bring himself to do anything about it.

Garrett Anderson was shot and killed by a drug dealer that thought he had moved in on his territory. His parents thought it was just a random act of brutal violence that had encroached into their world with tragic results. To them it was unexplainable. By the time of the funeral, though, rumors of their son had been whispered their way.

As Bryce paid his respects, he was barely able to keep from weeping openly. He missed his friend so much. Grand had been the one good thing in his life. Grand had been his tether, his connection to the good and normal in this world and now he was gone...because of him. The body in the casket was a grim reminder of his failure as friend.

_You taught me how to party, you made me this way_, it seemed to accuse him. _How could you let this happen to me Bryce? We were friends and you did nothing._

As he hurried from the viewing, he was stopped by Grand's Mom as he left the funeral home.

"Bryce, I've heard some terrible things about Garrett. You were his best friend…" Bryce's stomach churned and a lump formed in his throat. "...he was a good boy, right? If Garrett had been getting into trouble...into something over his head, you would have said something...have stopped him, right?"

Bryce hesitated; he knew he couldn't hurt Grand's Mom.

Before he could answer the woman continued "of course you would. What am I thinking? You would have saved him. Garrett looked up to you. He would have listened. I'm sorry. I'm falling apart. I know he was a good boy."

* * *

Bryce gave the woman a tentative, sad smile. "He was a good friend and a good person Mrs. Anderson. Don't listen to anything otherwise."

Bryce looked into those deep blue eyes. "It's a great name. One I'll never forget."

"Good. That'll make it easier for the cover."

"Yeah,..for the cover."


	2. Chapter 2 What's New Pussycat

**Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck or the other characters. No money is being made just fun.**

**A/N early season 5ish. No beta folks. All mistakes are mine.**

Anna Wu was bored…. very bored. Ever since Hawaii she had been on one long loop of dating losers, working and hacking computers At least her hacking crush, The Piranha, was back. She wondered where he had been. Other than an attack on Atari (WTF?) back in 2009, she hadn't seen his work since 2003. Maybe he was out of retirement. Anna couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to collaborate with him...probably freaking great. The White Cat and the Piranha hacking their way through the wild west of the internet. The White Cat wasn't the most imaginative hacker name but it meant a lot to her because of what it represented. The maneki-neko was good luck. More than that, she associated it with her family and how her dad had risen in his political career despite his humble beginnings. Yeah, she had been called "pussy" but that hadn't lasted beyond the crashed servers of the offending party and the flaming of their online persona.

It had been 2002 when she first noticed the Piranha's work. It had inspired her even at the age of 16 to talk her parents into letting her go to the US for college. She imagined herself rising to his level or at least the same level of proficiency as her other heroes, a ghost loosely referred to as "The Hacker" and his nemesis "Chaos", although she wasn't sure she really wanted to be black hat. She had wanted to go to Stanford but had to settle for Occidental College in Los Angeles, in their cooperative degree program with the California Institute of Technology. Her natural ability with computers and coding let her excel in the engineering program. By the end of her second semester, though, she realized she was disinterested with the other aspects of school. She dropped out and got a job at The Buy More. She had been more than qualified to work in the Nerd Herd.

She sighed. Sometimes she thought even working at the Buy More would beat working for Pacific Data Applications. At least Chuck Bartowski kept things fun. (She tried to remind herself to be thankful that the NSA had granted her top secret clearance even though they never ended up recruiting her.) All she ever did these days was data retrieval and server security… a total waste of her talent and imagination. Her current project: testing and certifying servers that had been attacked by the Omen Virus for Verbanski Corp. Since they were mainly a security operation, Verbanski Corp. had outsourced the job to PDA. "I can't believe these things are using RIOS 6", Anna muttered under her breath. It made sense though. It was a solid operating system that had gone public domain after Ted Roark's death. It was the man's last humanitarian act. A lot of the code had been incorporated into Linux and even though it had been around forever, there was a strong users group on 4chan supporting it… what was it? _Fellow Undergraduate Librarians for Change and Relative United Media_... or something like in the day most government hardware was loaded with it. Oh well, she better get to it. She'd check on The Piranha later to see if he had hacked anymore banks….

* * *

Sarah awoke with a start. The last thing she remembered was being held captive by Fulcrum in the intersect room at the Fulcrum lab in Meadow Branch as they tried to force her to upload their version of the intersect. She had no memory from that point until now. Her first thought was to assess her surroundings. _Where was Chuck? _

The room was dark with a beeping sound to her right. She was in bed with an IV in her left arm and plastic tubes in her nose. How long had she been out? Was this a friendly or Fulcrum facility? Before she could gather any more thoughts, the door opened and a petite brunette woman in scrubs entered the room. Sarah's lightning-like reflexes and instinct took over. The woman was quickly subdued.

"I can break your neck or let you go. It all depends on your answer. If you understand me, nod your head yes".

The woman's head brushed Sarah's ear as she nodded.

"Where am I?"

"Westside Medical."

"Who brought me here?"

"I don't know. You were admitted through the Emergency Department."

"How many guards are outside?"

"Wh...What are you talking about?"

Jeez, why did they have to play dumb? It was insulting. As if high valued assets or agents wouldn't need to be guarded." Don't get smart. How many guards are outside?"

The woman thought for a moment as Sarah increased the force of her grip.

"There is a security guard at the front desk in lobby, if that's what you mean."

That didn't even make sense and it angered Sarah but she needed to focus. There was only one thing that mattered to her.

"What have you done with Chuck?" The woman shrugged, confused.

"What have you done with the tall, lanky, brown haired man I was with?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. As far as I know, you were brought in alone."

_Oh no! _ They must have taken Chuck somewhere else. Although she didn't think the nurse was lying, she couldn't take any chances. Sarah put her in a sleeper hold until she went unconscious. She had to get out of here.

Sarah quickly dressed the wound from the IV with a gauze bandage and eyed the unconscious nurse. She couldn't get out of there just wearing a hospital gown. Since her clothes and personal items were missing, she carefully undressed the nurse then bound and gagged her. Much to Sarah's surprise they fit but they were scrubs after all. She carefully opened the door to the room. As she surveyed the hallway, she noticed that it was deserted. She made her way to the stairwell, leaving the building through a fire exit. As she crossed the parking lot, staying to the shadows, she looked for pursuit and found none. Now she just needed to check in with Casey and find Chuck. Sarah knew she was vulnerable without communication or a weapon. She needed to get to her off-grid storage unit near Maison 23. She kept it as a safe house of sorts. It would have her backup phone and weapons.

What. The. Hell! Something was wrong, so very, very wrong. Sarah felt like she was in an episode of that show _The Twilight Zone_ she had seen over Christmas. Finding the Orange Orange closed; she broke into Castle only to find it empty, deserted. It took all of her training to not freak out. Assessing the situation as best she could, Sarah went through the details in her head. Since regaining consciousness in the hospital, she had trounced a nurse and stolen her clothes, made a quiet getaway and finally arrived at Castle only to find it abandoned. She still had no idea where Chuck was or what had even happened to him. Her secure numbers for Casey and General Beckman were disconnected. Sarah knew that protocol dictated that when a black op was compromised the base of operations would be shut down or destroyed if there was no time. She needed find a way to securely contact General Beckman.

Though she was lost in thought, Sarah couldn't help but notice a black Lotus sports car pull up as she crossed the plaza parking lot. She had a thing for cars. She loved her Porsche but thought the Lotus looked like fun. Sarah's distraction came to a screeching halt when a tall woman exited the car and was met at the Buy More doors by none other than Chuck. Her eyes widened. Sarah tried to process everything as she watched the woman walk up close to Chuck and seemed to direct him back inside, almost pushing him to the rear of the store. Sarah could feel her blood begin to boil. This must be Chuck's Fulcrum Handler! There's no way that bitch was getting away with this.

* * *

As the black clad ninja comes around the corner into Chucks office, she quickly shoots Chuck's handler with a tranq dart. The woman falls to the ground while Sarah's mind is moving a mile a minute. She is unsure why but she knows that Chuck hated the killing aspect of her job and she really had tried to make this a non-lethal extraction but dammit, she needs to be prepared. She stows away the tranq gun and she pulls out her pistol. She glances down at her Smith & Wesson 5906, admiring the way the polished nickel plate glinted under the fluorescent lights.

Chuck's eyebrows shoot to his hairline as he spies a shapely black-clad ninja is making her way around the corner into his office. Could this day get any worse? He was currently dealing with two Carmichael Industries break-ins that could possibly be related to his spy life and now this.

Sarah falls and as he catches her the ninja closes in on him. Just as he starts to lower Sarah to the floor, the ninja yells at him.

"Chuck, don't freak out but we have got to go. Stay close and I'll get you out of here."

"Excuse me? Just who are you? And what are you doing here?"

Removing her mask Sarah quickly replied, "Chuck it's me. I forgot you've never seen me in this outfit. I actually haven't used it since right after your 26th birthday. Sorry about the computer by the way."

"That...that was you? I always wondered...wait….wait a minute... wait a doggone minute…what the hell?"

"Chuck, we've got to go. NOW! I don't know what Fulcrum has done to you or who this woman is but the longer we stay the greater the danger we have of getting caught..."

Morgan, hearing some commotion enters Chuck's office. "Chuck, what's going on...in….here?" Morgan's eyes widen as he observes Chuck with his hands up and Sarah collapsed on the floor with some woman pointing a gun at them.

Chuck's replies in an uncertain tone. "Nothing buddy, nothing at all. Just having a conversation with Sarah, that's all." Chuck rolls his eyes toward the intruder.

"Is that Sarah's gun? Why does she have Sarah's gun and why is it poin..."

"Morgan, why aren't you in Hawaii? Where's Anna?" the black clad figure shouts.

For the first time Morgan really looks at the woman and is shocked by what he sees. Sweat starts to form on Morgan's forehead as he continues to ponder the situation and the question posed to him. Suddenly it clicks. "Sarah! I'm so glad to see you!" he suddenly runs up in her and hugs her.

"Anna's right here." was all she heard as she felt the the spray hit her face and darkness fell over her eyes.

"Wow! I never thought carrying that knock out spray would come in handy. Alex is always worried I'm going to knock myself out, like that would ever happen…."

"Morgan...not now. Help me get Sarah and Anna up on the couch. We need to sort this out…"

As Sarah wakes up, her eyes widen with memory and she shoots up from the couch she finds herself on. "Hold on, hold on...it's ok baby...it's ok." Chucks soothing voice permeates her thoughts as he gives her a gentle hug and rubs her back. Sarah falls into Chuck's arms practically molding herself to his form as she checks him for any injuries. When she is satisfied that he is ok, she looks at the woman on the couch. Her widen in recognition and Sarah pulls Chuck in closer. She then pulls away a little, looks him straight in the eye and says "What is it with you and brunettes?"

* * *

"Anna Wu is currently being held at a NSA holding facility in downtown Los Angeles." General Diane Beckman reported through the large monitor in CI's conference room.

As Chuck, Sarah and Morgan looked on, Chuck raised his hand. "What exactly is going on with Anna, General?"

"It seems that Fulcrum or it's remaining fragments were not completely destroyed with the death of Ted Roark and the rise of the Ring. A private consortium of scientists were working on an intersect similar to the one that affected Hartley Winterbottom." General Beckman explained. "They apparently saw Agent Walker...I know...I know...it's Bartowski now... as an excellent personality template. Using moles in the CIA and NSA, they were able to access intel from her files. Also the intersect that Sarah was exposed to in the Meadow Branch housing development in 2009 was bi-directional. Not only did it download information but it uploaded it as well. The Fulcrum intersect machine was able to take an image of Sarah's personality and memories during it's brief activation.

"Sort of like ghosting a hard drive?" Chuck asks.

"Chuck, I'm sure I don't have any idea what your referring to. But to continue, Ms. Wu was exposed to this intersect while working as a IT tech at Pacific Data Associates. It seems a server with a copy of their intersect was accidently outsourced to PDA for data retrieval. Currently Ms. Wu is being held at a secure location and is scheduled for intersect suppression tomorrow morning."

"How will we explain her situation…." Sarah asked.

"You and Chuck won't have to be concerned about that. The suppression process should cause a short term amnesia and her superiors are unaware of the true nature of her condition since she was found collapsed at her workstation and sent to the hospital. She will be returned to Westside Hospital where she will be told that she hit her head and be released. We will follow her with an Agency Neurologists and Psychologists for the next 6 months to be sure of the intersect suppression under the guise of aftercare."

Both Sarah and Chuck let out a sigh of relief. "At least that the last time we'll have to deal with a bad intersect".

* * *

6 months later General Beckman received a report from Dr Leo Dreyfus on Anna Wu's condition. It was noted that she appeared to have no lingering effects from the intersect suppression other than occasional insomnia and it was recommended she be downgraded to intermittent surveillance for 1 year. When the NSA agent attempted to make contact with her 3 months later, she was gone...

**A/N Fanon influence: Hospital scene from ninjaVanish's Chuck and Sarah vs The Bunker.**


	3. Chuck Versus Kayla

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck or the musical inspiration from Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson's song "Adam And Eve".

A/N I want to thank **yeahokaycool **for their beta work. You're the best!

**Chuck**: "Excuse me. Uh, I'm sorry, General, but who in my life isn't a spy? My sister? My best friend? Should I just start asking people that when I first meet them? "Hi, I'd like the extra value meal and while we're on the topic, do you covertly work for a government espionage faction?" Chuck Versus the Gravitron.

September 2003

"But Evie, how will I find my socks?" a mock whine escaped the man's lips.

The petite woman packing her suitcase bit back a smile. It was a nickname he gave to her after they saw The Mummy. He had said she was every bit as brave and headstrong as the main character. Her smile faded just a bit. He was acting like the old Danny. The one she fell in love with. Tall, cute. A man with wit, mirth and a touch of goofiness. She hadn't seen that Danny much this past year. He was focused on his job. His ambition kept growing, even as it seemed his career stagnated.

"Couldn't another agent take this assignment?"

"The Director personally asked for my participation, Danny. You don't turn down the Director if you plan on furthering your career. Besides, I've been dreaming of field work since I joined the agency. Analyst work is great but I want to do more."

"I know… I know but… I mean we haven't even been married for year and…. I thought things had changed…"

"You mean you hoped they had changed. I've never said anything indicating I wanted to settle down and start a family. That was all you. Are sure this isn't because I'm getting promoted over you?"

"What! No! I don't know. I just worry about you. I can't protect you if you're under cover."

"This is what we signed up for, Danny. It will only be for a few months anyway."

January 2004

"Hey sis, who's our new neighbor?"

"Mrs. Heditsian says her name is Kayla Hart, and I quote, "a real hippie if you ask me."

"Remind me not to ask. I wonder if she needs some help."

* * *

_How is it possible for this man to be a potential bad guy? They're evil, right? Charles Bartowski… Chuck to his friends and family, is the furthest from evil imaginable. Thrown out of college and dumped by his girlfriend a year ago, he's now living with his sister and working at the local Buy More. The assignment from Director Graham just called for observation intel, so I've taken an apartment in the same complex as Chuck to keep a close eye on him. Apparently, he had been thrown out of a recruitment pipeline and the Director wanted to be sure it wasn't a ruse. The Director seemed to think he could be a real threat. I was given permission to use lethal force if necessary. God, I hope I don't get a kill order for him. I have barely gotten over my Red Test, and that was a stranger. A time and a place. I've only been watching for a month, but I don't think I could do it. He's so sweet, if a little shy. Probably a consequence of the way his last girlfriend treated him. Anyone would lose some self esteem if his girlfriend dumped him for his best friend. Short of Jerry Springer guests, who does that? I've observed the way he acts around others too, when he didn't know I was looking - sometimes reserved but generally outgoing, and always trying to help people. This man is evil?_

"Hey, Kayla".

"Hey Chuck".

"So I was thinking if you're not doin…"

"Sorry Chuck, I'm late for the club. Catch up with you later, OK?"

"Yeah… sure. Hey if you need anything you call me, got it?"

"Yeah… no problem… see you later." _It's better to keep my distance as much as possible. _

It was obvious he was infatuated with her. Even with her cover as a slightly fried, scattered club worker. It was ...disarming. But she thought the honey trap/seduction angle was disgusting. She didn't do that...at all. She just pretended to be oblivious. She had been watching Chuck for 3 months now. Work as a field agent was going well. She was passing along good intel. At least, good for Chuck getting off the CIA's radar. Chuck was so sweet and seemed to have so much potential, but if you took her reports at face value he came off looking like a loser working a dead end job. He hadn't tried to better himself after being thrown out of school and, other than nursing a crush on her, had no real contact with anyone outside his family and good friend from the Buy More.

* * *

_Things went south when I fought with my husband on our last rendezvous. He had pushed for me to come back to D.C. Accusing me of loving my job more than him, he stormed out of the hotel. He didn't even see me off at the airport. When I returned to Los Angeles, I was depressed, upset and feeling neglected. Chuck could see something was wrong but didn't know what and when he asked, I told him I had been on tour with some band and things hadn't worked out. Being Chuck, he wanted to comfort me. He made me dinner one night at my apartment. A Mediterranean dish with candles for lighting and red wine. God… the wine. I want to blame it on that but if I'm honest, I felt the pull between us. Chuck appreciated me and wanted to make me happy. I haven't had someone do that for so long. But then I slipped up. I slept with him. I practically ravished him on my couch, actually. He had been hesitant but once he knew he wasn't taking advantage, his full attention was focused on me and I enjoyed said attention. The next day was another story. Thank God for my cover legend. After all, Kayla Hart was a fly by night, live for the moment woman. Sex was just sex, nothing more. I could tell Chuck was confused and heartbroken when I didn't acknowledge anything more than dinner. I swore to myself it would never happen again, and it didn't. I should have asked to be recalled but I wouldn't want that on my record. I can do this. I lied and made it clear to him that it wasn't any more special than my other (implied ) hookups. When I saw how he reacted, I realized I wasn't any better than that horrible ex of his. What made things infinitely worse ( for me...but great for my assignment) was the fact that he still wanted to be around me. He would often surprise me with dropping by for just some light conversation about my day and share a few jokes. Occasionally, he would initiate a spontaneous movie night. He was careful to keep his distance on __**that **__couch. Somehow, though, I would always be a little closer to him by the end of the movie._

December 2004

It's a rainy day at the Santa Monica Pier, in a booth at the back of the Marisol Cocina Mexicana. A couple speaks in hushed voices. The man is tall with jet black hair and dark eyes. He's wearing a simple button down with khaki pants. His companion appears younger, brunette, in a short denim skirt, leather boots with layered vintage tops.

"Nice place. How did you find it?"

"Oh Ch...my asset and I came here once," the woman states as she sips her margarita and pushes her salsa with a chip. She defers from thinking too much about Chuck and the slip up at the mention of his name.

"Asset huh? You're a handler now?"

"It's really just observation on this assignment. You know that. He's more of a mark than anything," she tries to back peddle. Danny was already sensitive that she was moving along in her career while he was stuck in analysis. But she really did see Chuck as an asset… to her anyway... She didn't like thinking of him as a mark to be manipulated and used. He was too good for that designation in her mind.

Danny responds as if not even listening to her reply "Evie, I've missed you so much. It's nice to see my wife again." A mixture of excitement and bitterness drapes the man's words.

"I know this assignment hasn't worked out how we expected, Danny, but it's important work. Anyhow, Graham has said he expects to recall me any day now."

Danny visibly relaxes. "I can hardly wait. This seeing you only for a day or two every few months got old a year ago. But… hey, lets not talk about that." Eve notices a gleam in his eye. "I'm staying at the Casa Del Mar. They think I'm some high roller, so security won't be a problem when we go back to the suite."

"Um..sure. That's great!" She says with a little more gusto than she feels.

"And I have some more good news: a bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothschild Pauillac 1996 is waiting for us in my suite even as we speak." _He always gets the same wine._ "Let's get out of here and head over to my hotel. " Danny quickly pays for their tab and they head to his rental car. As they enter the suite, Danny closes the door and embraces her from behind. She is all too aware of his desire for her. She is surprised, though, when he turns her around and instead of kissing her, he looks into her eyes. "Eve…." he hesitates. "I also need to talk to you about working with me on an operation ." He quickly adds " We can work together and be together like the Turner's. Win win."

"Danny, you know I can't do that. My mission here is covert. It takes up most of my time. As you said, we hardly get to see each other as it is. Besides, Graham would never sanction it." She refrains from pointing out his inexperience with field operations.

"That may be true, but Deputy Director Martin did. I have a copy of the order in my briefcase. Don't you see? This means we can work together, be together on the same project even if it's only for a little while."

Danny opens the wine and toasts "To us!" What do you think about the way "Glasses clink and the wine is tasted" sounds? and the wine is tasted. Eve moves to the balcony and looks at the deep blue of the Pacific, her mind awash with conflict. Her duty to her husband (_duty? when had it gone from love to duty?_) and her duty to her current assignment. She liked Danny's upbeat disposition ( it was a welcome change, honestly) and enthusiasm for this mission of his, but she still felt unsettled about it. Couldn't they just be themselves without their profession intruding for once? She felt a chill go up her spine. What she really wanted were strong arms to hold her and to feel the warmth of his body envelope her. A deep voice to tell her that he loved her and everything would be OK. To turn and look into those warm hazel eyes and run her hands through his curly brown hair. Instead, she turns to see a very naked, obviously aroused dark haired man on the bed beckoning her to his side.

20 minutes later Danny is in the shower and she is looking at the file he brought with him. It's a photocopy but all the right seals and signatures are where they should be. Eve studies the parameters of the mission "So, this is practically an off the books op." she says to him as he exits the bathroom with billow of steam. " I know it was given a go by Deputy Director Martin, but does Director Graham even know about this little side project of yours?"

"Don't worry. It's been cleared by the higher ups. You saw the order."

"So what's the job?" She's read the file, but she wants to hear his take on it.

"It's Paris, Eve, the City of Light. It's courier work . It can't get any easier but Parker and I…"

"Parker Johns, your section head?"

"Yeah. We think we've uncovered a new player in international espionage, in France of all places. We've seen some patterns that don't match the threats we've been tracking so far. I've got an agent in the organization that's willing to sell information. I just need a courier to securely bring the intel stateside."

""My assignment will be inactive during the Christmas holidays. I can fly to Paris and make contact with your agent then."

"That's great. The bathroom's free… unless you'd like some company…"

"No I'm good. How about we just sit on the couch later, watch a little TV and cuddle?"

Danny suppresses a frown and responds "That's fine too."

January 2005

Langston Graham never liked dealing with internal affairs. They were a pain, generally had low security clearances, and brought a semblance of morals to the table. Morals were bad for good spy work. Agent Donaldson was the worst. "Director, It's come to our attention Agent Evelyn Shaw has taken an unsanctioned trip to meet with an operative within a private espionage organization calling itself L'anneau. Initial investigations indicate that we have no operations in the area or concerning L'anneau."

"I'm sure there is a misunderstanding, let me look into it. Give me a week to sort this out." _What the hell is going on? Eve Shaw is supposed to be in deep cover with a potential asset in California._

"As you wish, Director. I look forward to your report."

It took almost a week, but Graham found out that a mid level analyst Parker Johns had sent a memo to Deputy Director Martin mentioning an organization called L'anneau with a recommendation for further investigation. The request had been rejected by the Deputy Director's office. This didn't look good for agent Eve Shaw. Under normal conditions, she would be recalled and interrogated, but her work for him in California fell into a grey area as it was, and he didn't want this kind of attention. Intel she had gathered so far indicated Bartowski wasn't anything but a slacker with no ambition. In hindsight, it was amazing he hadn't been thrown out of Stanford sooner. A real waste of resources. But that was water under the bridge. Langston Graham was a pragmatic man. Agents were commodities to be used or discarded as necessary, like pieces on a chessboard. He needed this Paris situation to go away quietly. Preferably, handled by someone loyal to him. Agent Walker would fit the bill. His little side project had worked out better than he could have expected. He had high hopes for her, and no time like the present to have her prove her loyalty. "Amber", he called his secretary, "Get me the Red Test Candidates list ."

A/N I think I got the red test year right...at least according to the Chuck wiki ;)


End file.
